Actions Speak Louder Than Words- Why You Can’t Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

When your actions speak louder than words, you can accomplish almost anything! But too often I experience people who say they want to stop living paycheck to paycheck but their actions don’t match their words.

Actions vs. Words

You see the words vs. actions mismatch not only with money issues, but in every aspect of life. For instance:

Telling others you want to lose weight, but exercise and a better diet never seem to happen (at least not for long anyway).

You say you’re a believer, but nobody would know it by the way you live your life.

You know you need to lay off the ice cream, but you still eat it every night (boy have I been guilty of that one! I paid the price for it too!).

When Beliefs and Actions Don’t Match

Words (or beliefs) not matching actions is embodied in a concept called cognitive dissonance. To put it simply, cognitive dissonance means your beliefs and your actions aren’t consistent with each other.

This creates dissonance, which means disharmony.

Have you ever heard two musical tones that don’t go together? The notes compete with each other instead of working together to form a pleasant tone. In fact, it creates a sound that’s downright irritating, sort of like the emergency tone on your TV when there is a weather alert.

Cognitive Dissonance Creates Stress

Dissonance creates stress and imbalance. But when you put the right musical tones together, you create harmony.

A Personal Example

A good example of what I’m talking about is a person I know that is constantly struggling financially. This person has talked to me more than once about wanting to get out of debt and get on the right track financially.

But when the time comes to actually do something about their finances, they never take action.

The result is:

This person has blown through multiple inheritances.

They had to sell their paid for house and take out a loan for a much cheaper condo (and they’re behind on the payments).

They constantly get collection calls from companies they owe money to.

Their stress level is through the roof, resulting in depression, a poor attitude about life and work, denial, a probable eating disorder, and occasional suicidal thoughts.

You’re afraid to try something new, even though you know it’ll be for your benefit.

But once your actions start matching those noble ideals, you start to experience a harmony that you didn’t know was possible. You’ll feel more at peace with your finances because your words and your actions are in harmony.

I can tell you from personal experience that this is true! Once Angie and I got total control over our money, 99% of our money stress (and 100% of our money fights) totally disappeared!

How to Translate Words and Values into Action

So how do you make actions speak louder than words? You have to do the work required to make the two match.

So what does the path look like to turn your beliefs from mere words into concrete action?

Well, it’s sort of like learning to ride a bike.

At first you’re wobbly and you crash a lot. You’ll skin up your knees and elbows trying to figure out how to change your money habits. Mistakes will be made…

What Happens When Your Words and Actions Match

When what you do starts matching what you say, that’s when you start seeing the results you once only talked about! You’ll finally stop living paycheck to paycheck and get complete control over every dollar!